Gas cooktop appliances include a plurality of gas burners mounted to a main top or top panel of the appliance. Gas burners are known to generate carbon monoxide while being fired. Carbon monoxide is known to be harmful to humans if inhaled at a sufficiently high concentration. If a gas cooktop is not adequately vented, the carbon monoxide concentration in a living space can build up to toxic levels. It has been determined that a concentration of carbon monoxide compensated for excess air, or air free carbon monoxide (AFCO), of greater than 800 parts per million (ppm) is unsafe for human inhabitants in the living space. Accordingly, safety organizations, such as the American Gas Association (AGA), require gas cooktops produce no more than 800 ppm AFCO. It is further known that one of the primary causes of carbon monoxide generation in gas burners is incomplete combustion.
In the past, various techniques have been employed to assure complete combustion. For example, port to pot height (e.g., the vertical distance between the flame port of a gas burner and the bottom surface of a cooking utensil positioned on a burner grate) may be increased. As another example, the diameter of the burner orifices may be reduced. Each of these techniques may be used to keep AFCO production below 800 ppm. However, these techniques may also reduce the heat transfer efficiency or heat output rate [British Thermal Units (BTU)/Hour] of the gas burner and, as a consequence, may increase cooking times, such as by increasing the time to boil rating for the burner.
Accordingly, a cooktop appliance with features for reducing both carbon monoxide production and cooking times is desirable.